Great American Bites: Epic fried chicken at Willie Mae's in New Orleans
— -- The scene: Words like "beloved" and "institution" barely start to scratch the surface when describing Willie Mae's Scotch House, an iconic but off-the-beaten-track New Orleans eatery. Along with the humble Central Grocery, an Italian food retailer and purveyor of the game-changing mufuletta sandwich, this is a true locals' favorite - so much so that volunteers famously pitched in to rebuild it after Hurricane Katrina, a seemingly generous effort that was fueled by ulterior motives - the craving for Willie Mae's famous fried chicken.
While both restaurants are family owned and multi-generational, Central Grocery has a prime spot in the tourist-rich French Quarter, and having created its own food category, enjoys one-of-a-kind status. Willie Mae's, on the other hand, is far off the tourist path in the much poorer Fifth Ward, still surrounded by evidence of Katrina's devastating wrath, and it specializes in one of the nation's most ubiquitous dishes, available at thousands of locations nationwide, fried chicken. It is a small, house-like corner restaurant with metal gates over the front door, and two small dining rooms divided by a hallway along which is the open kitchen where cooks are busily frying away. There is no décor to speak of, just a ceiling fan and some beer bottles lined up on a shelf representing the choices, and a number of framed clippings about the eatery and its scion, Willie Mae Seaton. Along with the omnipresent line out the door, these clippings are the only indication something special is going on, and if you look, you will see numerous reviews proclaiming it nothing less than the best fried chicken on earth, along with a James Beard Award - the culinary world's equivalent of an Oscar.
Reason to visit: Fried chicken.
The food: Today Kerry Seaton, Willie Mae's granddaughter, runs the kitchen, and closely guards the family recipe, which is understandable since it leads fans on quests of thousands of miles to this hard-to-find corner eatery, open only for lunch. The line is almost always a varied mix of devoted local repeat customers, devoted repeat visitors, and passionate foodies driven by the reputation and stellar rankings the restaurant has accumulated in books and chat rooms. If you research a quest for the best fried chicken in the USA, you will inevitably end up here.
The chicken is fried to order and comes to the table quite hot, and the first thing you notice is how ragged and three dimensional the breading is. Excellent fried chicken is never of the smooth-coated fast-food variety, it should have peaks and valleys and crunchy nubs. This version totally delivers. A bit shiny, almost glazed in appearance, the crust is crunchy and crispy and perfectly seasoned, just a bit salty and not spicy. But what makes Willie Mae's chicken amazing is its juxtaposition of textures. The crust shatters to the bite, yet comes away clean - you can see the shape of your bite afterwards, whereas with inferior versions the entire outer surface rips off. As crispy and flavorful as the breading is, it is also surprisingly light and not greasy, like good tempura. Beneath this rugged exterior the meat is perfectly moist and juicy, a seemingly impossible duet of textures. Traditionally, you can only get this effect from frying in small batches in cast iron pans, except here they use large deep fryers and somehow pull it off.
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